This is a blog about the people, processes, and thoughts about technology previews from Autodesk.

January 19, 2010

CAD on the web: Project Butterfly Now Available

Project Butterfly extends AutoCAD to the web.

I am old enough to remember Iron Butterfly's 1968 hit "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida." At the time, it was the longest running rock and roll song - lasting about 19 minutes. Folklore holds that its original title was "In The Garden of Eden" but the lyrics got slurred. I am also old enough to remember a 1972 movie called Butterflies Are Free which is about triumph over challenging circumstances. But enough about the past.

Today we are announcing worldwide availability of Project Butterfly. Project Butterfly allows you to edit, co-edit, and review designs using your browser. Although you can save your design as a local drawing file, as long as you have it via the cloud, you can leave it in the cloud. This opens the door to collaboration with others in distant locations without the need to transmit files around the globe.

We are keen to know how you feel about a software as a service approach to design creation. Whereas Project Twitch is based on running our traditional desktop applications on servers in the cloud, Project Butterfly is a new web application specifically for CAD. Take Project Butterfly for a flight and let us know the experience at labs.butterfly@autodesk.com. At this time you will need to register with Project Butterfly separately as it is not yet hooked into Autodesk Single Sign-on like the Autodesk Labs site and Project Twitch are.

Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam, and the software is "cloudy" all day. Editing designs in the cloud is alive in the lab.

Comments

CAD on the web: Project Butterfly Now Available

Project Butterfly extends AutoCAD to the web.

I am old enough to remember Iron Butterfly's 1968 hit "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida." At the time, it was the longest running rock and roll song - lasting about 19 minutes. Folklore holds that its original title was "In The Garden of Eden" but the lyrics got slurred. I am also old enough to remember a 1972 movie called Butterflies Are Free which is about triumph over challenging circumstances. But enough about the past.

Today we are announcing worldwide availability of Project Butterfly. Project Butterfly allows you to edit, co-edit, and review designs using your browser. Although you can save your design as a local drawing file, as long as you have it via the cloud, you can leave it in the cloud. This opens the door to collaboration with others in distant locations without the need to transmit files around the globe.

We are keen to know how you feel about a software as a service approach to design creation. Whereas Project Twitch is based on running our traditional desktop applications on servers in the cloud, Project Butterfly is a new web application specifically for CAD. Take Project Butterfly for a flight and let us know the experience at labs.butterfly@autodesk.com. At this time you will need to register with Project Butterfly separately as it is not yet hooked into Autodesk Single Sign-on like the Autodesk Labs site and Project Twitch are.

Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam, and the software is "cloudy" all day. Editing designs in the cloud is alive in the lab.